In an earlier post I had shown how I got the Xplat agent running on Ubuntu. I perfected the technique over time, and what follows is a step-by-step process on how to convert and change the RedHat package to run on Debian/Ubuntu. Of course this is still a hack… but some people asked me to detail it a bit more. At the same time, the cross platform team is working to update the the source code on codeplex with extra bits that will make more straightforward to grab it, modify it and re-compile it than it is today. Until then, here is how I got it to work.

I assume you have already copied the right .RPM package off the OpsMgr server’s /AgentManagement directory to the Linux box here. The examples below refer to the 32bit package, but of course the same identical technique would work for the 64bit version.

We start by converting the RPM package to DEB format:

root# alien -k scx-1.0.4-258.rhel.5.x86.rpm –scripts

scx_1.0.4-258_i386.deb generated

Then we need to create a folder where we will extract the content of the package, modify stuff, and repackage it:

root# mkdir scx_1.0.4-258_i386

root# cd scx_1.0.4-258_i386

root# ar -x ../scx_1.0.4-258_i386.deb

root# mkdir debian

root# cd debian

root# mkdir DEBIAN

root# cd DEBIAN

root# cd ../..

root# rm debian-binary

root# mv control.tar.gz debian/DEBIAN/

root# mv data.tar.gz debian/

root# cd debian

root# tar -xvzf data.tar.gz

root# rm data.tar.gz

root# cd DEBIAN/

root# tar -xvzf control.tar.gz

root# rm control.tar.gz

Now we have the “skeleton” of the package easily laid out on the filesystem and we are ready to modify the package and add/change stuff to and in it.

First, we need to add some stuff to it, which is expected to be found on a redhat distro, but is not present in debian. In particular:

1. You should copy the file “functions” (that you can get from a redhat/centos box under /etc/init.d) under the debian/etc/init.d folder in our package folder. This file is required/included by our startup scripts, so it needs to be deployed too.

Then we need to chang some of the packacge behavior by editing files under debian/DEBIAN:

3. edit the “preinst” file (pre-installation instructions): we need to add instructions to copy the “issue” file onto “redhat-release” (as the SCX_OperatingSystem class will look into that file, and this is hard-coded in the binary, we need to let it find it):

these are the actual command lines to add for both packages (DEBIAN or UBUNTU):

# symbolic links for libaries called differently on Ubuntu and Debian vs. RedHat

ln -s /usr/lib/libcrypto.so.0.9.8 /usr/lib/libcrypto.so.6

ln -s /usr/lib/libssl.so.0.9.8 /usr/lib/libssl.so.6

the following bit would be Ubuntu-specific:

#we need this file for the OS provider relies on it, so we convert what we have in /etc/issue

4. Then we edit/modify the “postinst” file (post-installation instructions) as follows:

a. remove the 2nd and 3rd lines which look like the following

RPM_INSTALL_PREFIX=

export RPM_INSTALL_PREFIX

as they are only useful for the RPM system, not DEB/APT, so we don’t need them.

b. change the following 2 functions which contain RedHat-specific commands:

configure_pegasus_service() {

/usr/lib/lsb/install_initd /etc/init.d/scx-cimd

}

start_pegasus_service() {

service scx-cimd start

}

c. We need to change in the Debian equivalents for registering a service in INIT and starting it:

configure_pegasus_service() {

update-rc.d scx-cimd defaults

}

start_pegasus_service() {

/etc/init.d/scx-cimd start

}

5. Modify the “prerm” file (pre-removal instructions):

a. Just like “postinst”, remove the lines

RPM_INSTALL_PREFIX=

export RPM_INSTALL_PREFIX

b. Locate the two functions stopping and un-installing the service

stop_pegasus_service() {

service scx-cimd stop

}

unregister_pegasus_service() {

/usr/lib/lsb/remove_initd /etc/init.d/scx-cimd

}

c. Change those two functions with the Debian-equivalent command lines

stop_pegasus_service() {

/etc/init.d/scx-cimd stop

}

unregister_pegasus_service() {

update-rc.d -f scx-cimd remove

}

At this point the change we needed have been put in place, and we can re-build the DEB package.

Move yourself in the main folder of the application (the scx_1.0.4-258_i386 folder):

root# cd ../..

Create the package starting from the folders

root# dpkg-deb –build debian

dpkg-deb: building package `scx' in `debian.deb'.

Rename the package (for Ubuntu)

root# mv debian.deb scx_1.0.4-258_Ubuntu_9_i386.deb

Rename the package (for Debian)

root# mv debian.deb scx_1.0.4-258_Debian_5_i386.deb

Install it

root# dpkg -i scx_1.0.4-258_Platform_Version_i386.deb

All done! It should install and work!

Next step would be creating a Management Pack to monitor Debian and Ubuntu. It is pretty similar to what Robert Hearn has described stepbystep for CentOS, but with some different replacements of strings, as you can imagine. I have done this but have not written down the procedure yet, so I will post another article on how to do this as soon as I manage to get it standardized and reliable. There is a bit more work involved for Ubuntu/Debian… as some of the daemons/services have different names, and certain files too… but nothing terribly difficult to change so you might want to try it already and have a go at it!

In the meantime, as a teaser, here’s my server’s (http://www.muscetta.com) performance, being monitored with this “hack”:

Disclaimer

The information in this weblog is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. This weblog does not represent the thoughts, intentions, plans or strategies of my employer. It is solely my own personal opinion. All code samples are provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. THIS WORK IS NOT ENDORSED AND NOT EVEN CHECKED, AUTHORIZED, SCRUTINIZED NOR APPROVED BY MY EMPLOYER, AND IT ONLY REPRESENT SOMETHING WHICH I'VE DONE IN MY FREE TIME. NO GUARANTEE WHATSOEVER IS GIVEN ON THIS. THE AUTHOR SHALL NOT BE MADE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE YOU MIGHT INCUR WHEN USING THIS INFORMATION. The solution presented here IS NOT SUPPORTED by Microsoft.